WARNING: The following contains spoilers for "Prelude to Demon Days" by Peach Momoko, Zack Davisson and VC’s Ariana Maher in King in Black #4, on sale now.
Next month, superstar artist Peach Momoko will launch Demon Days: X-Men, which is set to reimagine the Marvel Universe through the lens of Japanese demon-slaying legends and folklore. While that series won't launch for a few more weeks, Marvel gave readers a taste of what’s in store with a short backup story in King in Black #4 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman.
In "Prelude to Demon Days," Psylocke and her trusty animal companion, Logan, wander across the springtime countryside and find themselves in what they think is a snowstorm in Japan's distant past. Feeling the snowflakes dig into her flesh with sharp edges, Psylocke realizes it is not the work of nature, but of Yuki Onna, this world's White Queen. Yuki Onna has no use for a young girl like Psylocke, so she orders her bodyguard, Jaga, to dispatch the wanderer.
Psylocke sicks her beastly companion Logan on Jaga after Yuki Onna freezes her feet to the ground. Then, the warrior breaks her restraint and slays the weakened Jaga. Her other adversary assesses the situation with skin now as strong as diamonds and decides to cut her losses and run. Psylocke collects herself and walks off into the sunset while Yuki Onna muses that she won’t underestimate the young demon hunter again, and that she needs a new bodyguard.
In the brief prelude, Momoko gives readers an idea of how she’ll blend Japanese legend, manga aesthetics and Marvel together. She depicts Psylocke as a young woman on a lonesome journey. Such a portrayal shirks the roles of mother and mentor Psylocke has in the main Marvel Universe, but still sees her embracing her long-standing roguish attitude. Momoko also draws Psylocke with distinct shoujo features and in poses and situations, one would expect in seinen distancing the hero from her more traditional portrayals.
Yuki Onna, the White Queen, is Momoko’s take on Emma Frost. She has the makeup and mannerisms of a geisha and her naming convention evokes the common legendary role of a beautiful, vengeful witch. Yuki Onna’s bodyguard, or yojimbo, Jaga is Momoko’s Juggernaut. Though introduced as a sword-bearing samurai, Jaga fights with blunt weapons strapped to his knuckles and keeps in the same spirit as his Marvel Universe counterpart. Momoko rounds out the Demon Days cast with a tongue-in-cheek depiction of Logan as Psylocke’s beast companion rather than a mutant in his own right.
With the miniseries’ proper launch in two weeks, readers can expect more of Psylocke and her trusty animal sidekick Logan for five issues. While both Psylocke and Wolverine have deep ties to Japan in the main Marvel Universe and have been reimagined as part of the Marvel Mangaverse, Demon Days puts that history on its head with a take on the X-Men that doesn't look like any that's come before.
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